Tuition caps at Ohio colleges rein in fee hikes

Tuesday

Jan 31, 2012 at 12:01 AMJan 31, 2012 at 4:11 PM

Recent tuition caps have slowed price increases at Ohio's public colleges and universities, a new report shows, a week after President Barack Obama challenged the nation's schools to become more affordable.

Encarnacion Pyle, The Columbus Dispatch

Recent tuition caps have slowed price increases at Ohio’s public colleges and universities, a new report shows, a week after President Barack Obama challenged the nation’s schools to become more affordable.

Over the past decade, tuition and mandatory fees at Ohio’s universities increased 25 percent, when adjusted for inflation, to an average of $9,608 annually, according to the Ohio Board of Regents report.

But most of that increase happened before 2008, when Ohio lawmakers prevented colleges from increasing tuition for in-state undergraduates. Since then, some increases have been allowed, but students’ costs rose only 2 percent over the five-year span.

“The (price) caps are still in place. They’re clearly making a difference. And the chancellor doesn’t envision changing that anytime soon,” said Kim Norris, spokeswoman for the Board of Regents, the state’s higher-education overseer.

From 1996 to 2006, tuition at Ohio’s public universities rose an average of 9 percent a year. At the time, the state’s four-year schools cost 47 percent more than the national average.

Norris acknowledged that Ohio still ranked 12th-highest nationally in the cost of its four-year public universities in 2009-10, the most-recent academic year for which there is data. But the schools have done a tremendous job of controlling tuition, she said.

Ohio State University has increased tuition an average of 2.4 percent annually over the past five years, before adjusting for inflation.

Spokesman Jim Lynch said that’s well below the national average for four-year campuses.

“Ohio State is mindful of the burden that college tuition and loans place on students and their families,” Lynch said. “We remain very committed to affordability without sacrificing our quality."

At a cost of $9,735, Ohio State’s tuition and fees continue to rank fifth-highest among Ohio’s 13 public universities. But only one selective school, Kent State University, charges less.

Columbus State Community College charges $3,555, compared with a state average of $3,484 for public, two-year schools.

But Columbus State has not increased tuition for six years, so students today actually pay 3.1 percent less than they would have 10 years ago once costs are adjusted for inflation.

“Across the state, it has been good news. But our board has been particularly committed to keeping tuition as affordable as possible while maintaining the highest quality,” said Will Kopp, Columbus State’s spokesman.

Becky Watts, chief of staff for Ohio University’s president, echoed the belief that the report shows that state schools have been doing their part. “Anytime you can keep costs from escalating at really high rates, it’s good for students,” she said.

But Watts worries that further gains will be hard to achieve if the state scales back funding for higher education. Ohio University and other state schools increasingly look to donations or other sources to make up the difference, she said.